Worksheet on Subject Verb Agreement
Level: Basic
Fill in the blanks with an appropriate form of the verb given in the bracket:
Passage 2:
Why English?
The English language is used by more people in the world than any other living
language today. This may seem surprising at first. After all, the population of the United
Kingdom (1) ______ (be) one of the smallest in the world. But of course the UK is not
the only country whose native language (2)_______(be) English; the majority of people
in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (3)________(be) also native
English-speakers. However, even if you add up the populations of these countries the
total only (4)________(come) to about 400 million, which (5)________(be) less than
one-tenth of the population of the world.
Who else (6)_________(speak) English? Well, if we count all the English-speakers
in India, Singapore and Hong Kong, that (7)_________(add) another 700 million to the
total. Add all the people speaking English elsewhere and the total English-speaking
population of the world (8)________(come) to an impressive one and a half billion!
This figure shows that there (9)________(be) more non-native speakers of English
than there are native speakers. Why is this? There is one important historical reason: the
influence of the British Empire -- the Empire that stretched across the globe. Although
the Empire no longer (10)________(exist), the English language is firmly rooted in its
former colonies -- in Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Far East, Australia, New
Zealand, the Caribbean and North America.
Other important reasons for the spread of English language (11)_______(be)
economic. English is the language of international business and commerce. It is also the
native language of the United States. So, any country wanting, for example, to trade with
the United States, or to take advantage of its technology, (12)_______ (need) to operate
in English. Also, most scientific and technological developments have been made by
English-speaking societies. To keep up with such developments, to talk about them in
international conferences, or write and read about them in scientific journals and books,
scientists, scholars and students must be able to understand English.
These are obvious reasons for the spread and interest in the English language. But
there is a rather less obvious reason. English is also the language of a popular culture. All
over the globe millions of young people listen to pop music and watch pop videos. The
stars who perform in English (13)________(be) by far the most famous. The songs of
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Police, Sting, Michael
Jackson, and hundreds of other American and British singers (14)_______(be) heard all
over the world. English has become an international language.
English is well suited to this role. Unlike many other languages, it has a built-in
flexibility that (15)________(allow) constant adaptation and assimilation. In English,
vocabulary from other languages (16)_________(be) often used, new words and
combinations of words can be coined easily, nouns can be turned into verbs and vice
versa.
Furthermore English does not suffer from having an academy (as (17)_______(do)
France) which monitors the language and sets the standards of 'correctness'. What is
correct in English (18)_________(be) often, simply, what (19)________(be) accepted as
appropriate and understandable by those who (20)________(speak) it, whether they are
native or non-native speakers.
This flexibility helps to explain why English has survived so well, why it can vary so
much from speaker to speaker and why it has become a world language.
Passage taken from: GUO Jieke, YANG ying, JIN yan. 2002. College English Fast
Reading (Book 2). Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press.
Answer for Passage 2:
Why English?
(1) is
Explanation: “population” (uncountable noun takes a singular verb)
(2) is
Explanation: “native language” as subject (singular)
(3) are
Explanation: “majority” as the subject here, verb can be singular or plural depending
on whether the nouns after “of “ are singular or plural.
(4)comes
Explanation: “the total” as the subject (singular)
(5) is
Explanation: verb agrees with a sum number ( singular)
(6)speaks
Explanation: Who (interrogative pronoun as subject, takes a singular verb)
(7) adds
Explanation: pronoun “that” as the subject here (singular)
(8) comes
Explanation: same as (1)
(9) are
Explanation: in “there be” structure, whether to use “is” or “are” is determined by the
noun used after “there be”.
(10) exists
Explanation: “empire” as subject (singular)
(11)are
Explanation: reasons (plural) as subject of the verb “be”
(12) needs
Explanation: “any country” used as subject (singular)
(13) are
Explanation: the subject here is “the stars (plural)
(14) are
Explanation: the subject here is “the songs” (plural)
(15) allows
Explanation: flexibility (uncountable noun) takes a singular verb
(16) is
Explanation: vocabulary (uncountable noun here) takes a singular verb
(17) does
Explanation: France is the subject here (subject)
(18) is
Explanation: The noun clause “What is correct” serves as the subject here and takes a
singular verb.
(19) is
Explanation: similar to 6
(20) speak
Explanation: those + verb in the plural form